Starting another long desert roadtrip, I left San Jose around 7:30a and made my
way to Yucaipa on the south side of the San Bernardino Mtns by around 1:30pm. I
did a trio of easy hikes in the area to occupy me until nearly sunset. None were
particularly exciting, but they made for nice leg stretchers and I got to
explore the foothills below Yucaipa Ridge for the first time. It's an
interesting area with lots of flags flying on a mix of rural/equestrian lots,
upscale homes, and older, rundown areas. Loved the woman walking across the
street with "I Bleed Red White & Blue" Tshirt. Sort of sums up the area. The
weather was overcast across most of the state and quite heavy around Yucaipa,
so views were rather limited today. The air was quite fresh from the recent
rains and the smells of chaparral nicely filled the air.
Zanja Peak
This is the highpoint of the Crafton Hills, a small collection of brush/grass
hills between Redlands and Yucaipa.
The summit and most of the hills are part
of the Yucaipa Regional Park of San Bernardino County. There is
a trailhead off
Oak Glen Rd that had a few cars when I arrived. There are a number of trails
one can hike around the hills, most going over Zanja Peak. I went up one route
(old firebreaks) and down another (mostly a single track), for a nice
4mi loop. The summit has a few benches to relax on and take in
the views.
Pisgah Peak
Located on private property about 7mi east of Zanja Peak, Pisgah Peak was an
HPS summit unceremoniously delisted in 1988 when the private property became an
issue. I started from the saddle on the northeast side at the junction
of Raspberry Ln and Pisgah Peak Rd. The latter is gated not far from the
pavement end, so I simply started from there. The gate is signed for
No Trespassing but the road
appears to be infrequently used, perhaps not at all anymore. The road winds its
way up the summit in a little over 2mi, an easy grade considering the summit is
only half a mile from the starting point as the crow flies. There is a second
gate just below the summit also signed for No Trespassing. I suppose these
signs are why there are no TRs on PB since 1984 despite more than a dozen
ascents in recent years. The summit is a bit sad and forlorn-looking. There
is the foundation of a home near the top that looks to have been razed
by a fire. There are stacks of building materials - concrete blocks,
pavers, roof tiles and bricks - scattered about the place as though
someone was going to rebuild at the summit but never got beyond staging the
heavier materials. It's pretty overgrown and the picnic bench looks
rather lonely. I was partially in the clouds so I had only a weak view
looking to the south. I imagine the views
are probably quite nice most of the time. On the way back I took a few shortcuts
to bypass two long sections of the road. Much faster on the descent.
Cherry Valley Peak
This unofficially named summit lies above the rural community of
Cherry Valley
about 4mi southwest of Pisgah Peak. I tried several places on the northeast
side of the summit to reach one of several trails or firebreaks running up the
ridgelines, but had no succcess there. I eventually ended up on the southeast
side at the end of Mountain View Ave. There is some parking here
mostly used by the owners of a couple of homes at the end here. Plenty of room
for a few visitors. Informal trails head up steeply from here,
eventually leading to the summit ridge in about half a mile. There is a tall
flagpole with flag waving at the south summit. The LoJ highpoint is a
quarter mile to the northwest, but
I couldn't tell which was higher and didn't take any GPSr readings. Decent views
all around on this one. It appears one can take the trail continuing on the
ridge to the north, but I'll leave that to someone else to determine where it
starts and whether there are access issues. No idea who owns the lands here or,
if public, what agency manages it (or in this case, ignores it).